We thank Ms Chen Jiayin for her suggestions to better support educator well-being (“Let preschool teachers ‘reduce their burden’”, 6 Dec 2025). The Early Childhood and Development Agency (ECDA) recognises the demands of early childhood educators’ roles and remains committed to supporting their well-being.
The shift to a five-day work week was implemented from 1 January 2025 to give early childhood educators more time to rest over the weekends. This is one of many measures we have introduced to enhance the well-being of educators.
In recent years, ECDA has established a relief staff pool so educators are able to take time off work, designating Teachers’ Day and Children’s Day as preschool holidays, and set aside six preschool closure days as “Development Days” to encourage protected time for development. These measures enable educators to have more dedicated time away from centres, for recharge or development.
Through the EC Industry Digital Plan (IDP), ECDA also supports preschools in adopting digital solutions to reduce administrative tasks such as attendance taking and parent communication. Eligible operators can adopt pre-approved IDP solutions with up to 50% grant support.
To strengthen long-term manpower resilience, we will also embark on a sector-wide job redesign project to improve educators’ daily work experience and the overall attractiveness of an early childhood career.
To further enhance educators’ well-being, ECDA has recently gathered ground feedback from educators, through our sector engagements, to validate these operational realities. Building on this, ECDA will continue working closely with operators to ensure that workloads remain manageable, contracted working hours are upheld, and a positive work environment is fostered so that educators can grow and excel.
Early childhood educators play a vital role in ensuring that every child is able to have the best possible start in life. ECDA will continue to engage educators and work with preschool operators and parents to better support educators’ well-being. We will take into consideration the feedback from Ms Chen and other stakeholders in our reviews.
Ms Seraphina Kuah （柯佩芳 (女士)）
Director, Sector Planning （规划司司长）
Early Childhood Development Agency（幼儿培育署）